Chapter 104
Chapter 104
Chapter 104
Fading Bonds
Alex’s POV
I've spent Three years away from Aurora, Three years of silence, Three years which felt like forever. Three years of burying every memory of her beneath duty, pride, and the poisonous promises Tiffany whispered into my ear, which turned me against Aurora.
Yet tonight, I broke it, the chains that held me from reaching out to her.
My fingers trembled as I scrolled through my contacts, stopping at her name. Aurora Thompson. That name still burned like fire in my chest, a fire that burned with much intensity.
My thumb hovered over the call button. It felt like betrayal to even want to hear her voice after everything I had sworn. But the ache in my chest refused to be quiet and silent.
The phone rang once. Twice. Three times.
She won’t pick up. I thought.
Then, her voice rang out, just when I lost all hope of her picking the call.
“Hello?”
Her voice was cautious, sharp with the edge of surprise and fear. For a moment, I forgot how to breathe, my head went blank, as I forgot how to speak.
“Aurora,” I said, her name dragging from my throat like a confession I had to make. “It’s… it’s me. Can we meet? Just once. At our spot, Our favorite spot as kids.”
Silence stretched, threatening to choke the life out of me. I imagined her finger hovering above the red button, imagined her shutting the door on me the way I had shut it on her,just because she didn't give me what I wanted.
Finally, after a heart wrenching silence, she spoke just three words.
“Fine. I’ll come.”
Reluctant. Guarded. Surprised. But she agreed. That was enough for me.
I left immediately, heading to the little riverside park we had claimed as kids. Our sanctuary. Where we built castles out of stones, whispered secrets under the willow tree, and promised ourselves to be friends forever.
The night air was cool, biting against my skin. My heart pounded like I was about to face judgment.
It was sthe judgement I had dreaded.
When she arrived, I saw it instantly, she hadn’t changed. And yet… it felt like she had changed, the aura arround her was more refined and sharp.
Aurora walked toward me with the same grace, but her eyes held steel now. Her aura burned with strength, the kind Dominique had carved into her with fire, pain, and resilience.
But she looked at me, and for a second I saw the girl I once knew. The girl who had laughed with me, cried with me. Got angry with me. The girl I had loved in silence.
“Aurora,” I breathed.
“Alex.” Her tone was neutral, flat. But her eyes, her eyes held disappointment, pain and sadness.
And it crushed me, deeper than I thought it could.
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Aurora’s POV
The moment my phone lit up with his name, I thought it was a mistake. Alex hadn’t called me in three years. Not once. Not since I rejected his love. Not after choosing Tiffany’s side over mine. Not after watching silently while Tiffany clawed at me, mocked me, tried to crush me by all means.
Still… something inside me couldn’t ignore him. Maybe it was nostalgia. Maybe it was the stubborn, fragile piece of my heart that still remembered the boy who used to be my best friend. The boy I shared half of my memories with, the boy who was my solace place when I lost my mom.
So I went, I agreed to see him desoite the dangers it may attract . Without mibdi g if it was all a trick.
When I saw him by the riverside, my chest tightened. He was the same Alex, same broad shoulders, same familiar smile line on his face but his eyes… they were dim. Hollow. The brightness I remembered was gone, drowned by shadows, exhaustion, anger and pain.
But I didn’t run into his arms. I didn’t smile. I only looked at him, the way you look at someone who chose to walk away from you when you needed them most.
“You wanted to see me,” I said, my tone flat.
He flinched, as if my voice had cut all walls arround him
“Yes,” he whispered, his gaze falling. “I needed to… I need to understand. Why didn’t you ever accept me, Aurora? Why him? Why Dominique, after everything he did to you? After the scars I heard he gave to you while you were his handmaidien?”
The words came sharp, desperate. Like claws which threatened to ripp out of his chest.
My lips parted, but no words came at first. I had answered this question so many times, silently to myself, angrily to others, even to Dominique but hearing it from Alex hurt in a way that made me understand that I wasn’t ready to truly answer it well.
“Because love doesn’t bow to logic,” I said finally, my voice low but steady. “Because even after everything, Dominique broke me and built me at the same time. I chose him. And I would choose him again, even in another lifetime.”
His face crumpled. His fists clenched. Anger swept across his face.
“You’re choosing pain, your choosing the devil's world,” he spat. “You’re choosing a monster over someone who’s always, always been here for you, from your childhood, to your first Art competition you won, to your mother's death, to your Step mother issue.”
I shook my head. “No, Alex. You stopped being here the moment you stood beside Tiffany, ignoring the fact that you knew Tiffany and I don't breathe in the same room. The moment you let her words of venom into you, that was the moment you drown the bond we had.”
He froze, not knowing what to say.
Silence spread between us, broken only by the sound of water lapping at the river’s edge.
Then he said it.
“Tiffany is coming for you, Aurora. And she won’t stop until you’re dead.” His voice was grave, warning, heavy with truth that I already knew.
My lips curved into a bitter smile. “Good. Because I’m coming for her too. She won’t stop until I’m ashes, and I won’t stop until she’s dust. That’s the battlefield we chose.”
His jaw clenched. He took a step closer, his eyes blazing for the first time. “If we meet there, I won’t remember this moment. I won’t remember us. You can stop it all now. Just… accept me. Choose me, Aurora. Leave Dominique.”
My heart cracked at his plea. I could almost see the boy I once loved as a brother, begging me not to walk away.
But I had already chosen who I loved.
“I won’t do anything to please anyone else,” I whispered. “And I’m sorry, Alex, but you chose the wrong side. And you’re going to lose.”
I turned. I walked away. And with every step, I felt the weight of his heartbreak press against my back.
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Alex’s POV
Her words cut deeper than any blade.
“You chose the wrong side. And you’re going to lose.”
I stood frozen, staring at the empty space where she had stood just moments before. The wind carried her scent away, leaving nothing but silence.
For years I told myself she was confused. That she would regret choosing Dominique. That one day she’d see me, finally see me as the one who truly loved her from the beginning.
But tonight, I saw the truth in her eyes. She never loved me. Not the way I loved her. And no amount of wishing, no amount of betrayal disguised as loyalty to Tiffany, would change that.
He mind was already made up. And nothing I would say would hinder whatever she would do.
I turned slowly, my feet dragging against the gravel. My heart thundered, but not with love, with doubt.
Had I chosen wrong?
The question clawed into me, refusing to let go.
Every step I took away from that riverside felt like sinking deeper into quicksand. For the first time in three years, I wondered if I had given up everything, her, our friendship, my soul in exchange for nothing.
And that thought terrified me to my bones.